Introducing new cultural and technological approaches into institutional practice: an experience from geography

With increasing international collaboration in the delivery of higher education e‐learning programmes, the requirement for changes in institutional practice needs to be considered in relation to the creation of shared online resources. A group of academic and learning technologists involved in a US/UK project experimented with technology and a new cultural approach to creating learning material suitable for use in geography programmes on either side of the Atlantic. The methodology, called Collaborative Learning Activity Design was undertaken to develop a series of learning activities to support the use and understanding of the Global Positioning System. As a result of this study, effective communication, reliable and flexible technology and a robust, iterative methodology were identified as critical factors for successful outcomes. These outcomes included learning materials that are readily redeployable in other institutions and cross‐fertilisation of ideas and knowledge to produce higher quality resources. The experiences of designing and developing multi‐institutional learning materials from the viewpoint of practitioners at the University of Leeds are discussed in this paper.